Palo Alto Weekly

Senior Focus

HOLIDAY TIPS FOR CAREGIVERS ... Dementia care coachTiffany Mikles will offer a free workshop, "Bring Back the Light: Holiday Tips for Caregivers" Wednesday, Dec. 11, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at Avenidas, 450 Bryant St. Mikles will discuss how to solve problems that caregivers and people with dementia face around the holidays, sharing ideas on how to customize traditions so that everybody can participate and be involved in meaningful activities. Space is limited. To RSVP, email to efarber@avenidas.org or call 650-289-5433.

SENIOR NEW YEAR'S EVE DAY BASH ... Celebrate the New Year with dancing and a buffet lunch Tuesday, Dec. 31, at an event co-sponsored by the Oshman Family Jewish Community Center, the City of Palo Alto and Avenidas senior center. Doors open at 10:30 a.m. and festivities start at 11, continuing until 2 p.m., with a champagne New Year's toast at 1:30 p.m. The event will be held in the Schultz Cultural Arts Hall at the Oshman Family Jewish Community Center, 3921 Fabian Way, Palo Alto. Admission is $15 in advance and $18 at the door. To RSVP contact Jen Landucci at 650-223-8664 or jlanducci@paloaltojcc.org.

CRISIS OR OPPORTUNITY? ... The implications of longer human lifespans in the 21st century will be explored in a course to be offered to Stanford University undergraduates starting in January, "Longevity in the 21st Century: Crisis or Opportunity?" Psychologist Laura Carstensen and biologist and physician Thomas Rando will discuss why the population is aging from a biological and biomedical perspective and what we can expect in coming decades. They will touch on how long future generations can expect to live and how lifestyles, families and work are likely to change. They also will discuss the unprecedented changes likely to occur in societies where older people outnumber children.

ESTROGEN AND COGNITION ... Decreased estrogen levels after menopause are largely unrelated to changes in cognitive ability and mood, according to a new study led by Victor Henderson professor of health research and policy and of neurology and neurological sciences at the Stanford School of Medicine. The study did find a possible link between levels of another hormone — progesterone — and cognition among younger postmenopausal women. The research is the first to investigate associations between sex hormones and cognition in both younger and older postmenopausal women and to determine whether the hormones affect women differently based on age and how much time has elapsed since they reached menopause.

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